Glorious Dawn
by Benji The Vampire Confuser
Summary: Clark gets a little sister. Crossover with Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
1. Prologue

**Glorious Dawn**

**By Benji The Vampire Confuser**

_Based on Characters and situations created by those guys that created Superman, the tv show Smallville (on which my little sister's high school buddy guest starred), and Joss Whedon._

Prologue/Teaser

Eighth grade. Not so bad really. No longer a seventh grader, not yet a freshman. He wasn't looking forward to 9th grade. Chloe was taking some advanced classes at Smallville High, including being groomed to replace the editor of the school paper. And in addition to bugging him and Pete to help her out, she had many horror stories about the abuses she'd witnessed. And it was only the first week.

"I'm home!" Clark yelled out, grabbing a cookie from the jar and heading up to his room.

There was a girl sitting on his bed, grinning mischievously.

"Where'd you come from?" he demanded.

"I win." She answered, bouncing off the mattress onto her feet.

"I didn't know we were racing." He challenged.

"Clark! Dawn!" Mr. Kent called up the stairs, knowing his adopted children well. "No racing until you finish your homework!"

"Aw dad!" Dawn complained.

Clark grinned. "Just as well. You'd never beat me anyway."

"Oh we'll see about that." Dawn growled. "Soon as we finish our homework, you're going down hard."

To Be Continued…


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

_"Dear Diary,_

_"Clark beat me again. Just cause he has super-speed he thinks he's so much better than me. Whatever, I get way better grades than he does, and I'm only 10. Once he tried to let me win, but I so caught on to that. Sometimes it makes me mad that he can do all this stuff that I can't. Like, dad still won't let me help with the chores. He's so old fashioned sometimes. Oh sure, Clark's super-strong so he can help out. He just likes to show off that's all. Tossing bales of hay like they were nothing. I can't even lift one with both hands._

_But he can't cook. Mom taught me how to make cookies last night. I wouldn't let Clark have any till he took me for a super-speed piggyback ride. Sometimes there's cool things about having a super-powered older brother. Sometimes. I guess."_

"Hello?" Lana called out, knocking on the door. "Anybody home?"

"Hi Lana," Martha greeted her with a smile, "Dawn's in the barn with Clark."

"Oh, okay," she said, turning, "Thanks."

"Care for a cookie?" Martha asked. "Dawn's special recipe."

Lana grinned and took three, one for herself, and two for Dawn and Clark.

_"Lana's nice. But she kinda makes me sick sometimes. Mostly cause of the way Clark turns into a total klutz around her. He so has a humongoid crush on her, and she has no idea. Puhleeze. If someone had a crush on me, I'd figure it out. I know all the signs, just watching Clark. Does he fall flat on his face every time I get near him? Sure sign apparently. Plus Clark's started to get all creepy stalkery. He has his telescope in the loft pointed at her front porch. How much more gross could he get?"_

"Hey Lana," Clark said, swallowing hard and smiling awkwardly. Dawn rolled her eyes behind her back and waved.

"Hey Clark," Lana smiled brightly, then produced the extra cookies. Dawn could have sworn her older brother actually turned a little green at the close proximity to the girl when he took his cookie.

"Ready for your riding lesson?" Lana asked her.

"So am." She said, grabbing her helmet in one hand and Lana's in the other. The less time these two spent together the less nauseous it would make her.

_"Really, Lana's almost like an older sister. She lives right next door, sort of, and we spend so much time together. She's teaching me how to ride horses, which is so cool. We used to play dress up till I got too old for that. She even taught me how to put on makeup, but I wiped it off before Mom could see. She doesn't want me wearing makeup until I'm like, 15. She says it'll make dad cry, whatever that means. Anyway, today's the day dear diary. Just call me Emma."_

"Clark totally has a crush on you." Dawn blurted out.

Lana's head snapped around and she pulled hard on the reins of her horse. "What?" She was used to Dawn spouting off suddenly, but this was certainly a surprise.

"It's true." Dawn went on. "He has for like, forever."

"Clark and I are just friends." Lana said uncertainly. "I'm sure you're just imagining it."

"Uh uh." She said adamantly. "The only time he ever trips is around you. Plus he like, looks at you all the time when your back is turned. It's really gross."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because, it's getting stupid. He doesn't have the guts to tell you himself, so I'm helping. He's my brother. I have to look out for him."

* * *

John Kent greeted Mr. Ross as Clark helped Chloe and Pete get their sleeping bags from the trunk of the car. Dawn sat watching, shaking her head in bemusement.

_"I can't believe Clark's in eighth grade and he's still having sleepovers in the barn. He doesn't go trick or treating anymore, but he still has sleepovers. He is so weird sometimes. But it's okay, I like his friends."_

"Hey Munchkin!" Chloe grinned, giving Dawn a hug. "When are you gonna help me out and become my ace reporter?"

_"Chloe is the awesomest person. She's the only person I know who already knows just what she wants to do with her life. She wants to be a big hot shot reporter. She's so smart she's already taking classes in High School. Plus she's all into like, weird stuff like Bigfoot and stuff. I love her stories._

_"Pete's cool too. Okay he's beyond cool. He's handsome and funny, and strong, and he's gonna get his dad's cool car when he's old enough to drive. He promised me I'd be the first one he'd give a ride too. Smiley face. Heart. Okay so I have a crush on my big brother's best friend. So? At least I don't trip over my own feet whenever he's around."_

To be continued…


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Meet us back here at 3." Jonathan said. "Clark look after your sister."

"Course dad." Clark said. His tone spoke his underlying meaning. He hardly needed to be told to look after Dawn. That was his job every time they went into town and went off without their parents. Dawn of course had already leaped out of the back of the truck, and was impatiently bouncing in place.

"C'mon Clark!" she said. "We gotta get there in time to get pop-corn!"

Clark grinned, hefting his little sister up for a piggy back. "Then we'd better not rely on your short legs." He said.

"Hey!" she retorted, smacking him in the back of the head.

"No fighting you two." Martha chided.

Dawn just giggled as Clark headed for the Talon. "How old is the Talon?" Dawn asked.

"I'm not sure." Her brother answered. "But dad says he used to come to the movies here."

"So, really old then."

Clark laughed. "I'm telling Dad you said that."

"No way! You do and I tell mom you snuck a cookie last night."

"Hey! You were supposed to be asleep."

"So were you." They had reached a draw so they stopped arguing. "Now put me down." Dawn said. "I'm way too old to be getting piggy back rides to the movies."

Clark smirked and set her down. He knew the real reason she wanted him to put her down. She didn't want Pete to see her like that. He'd released her just in time it seemed. They rounded the corner and found Pete and Chloe already arrived, waiting for them.

"Hey Dawnie!" Chloe chirped, snapping a picture of the girl.

"No fair!" she protested. "I wasn't ready!"

"Those are the best kinds of pictures." Chloe said. "Candid shots."

Pete just rolled his eyes. "Girl just can't stop with the reporter talk. 'Sup Clark, we were beginning to think you weren't coming."

Clark shrugged. "Dawn wanted to make an entrance."

"Oh whatever Mr. Walk Don't Run."

Chloe and Pete laughed at the two's exchange. They never could stop ribbing each other, and yet neither seemed to ruffle the other's feathers too badly. As only children, they felt a bit of envy for the connection between the two.

"C'mon Dawn," Pete said. "I'll buy you a coke for putting up with the big lug."

"Large?"

"No way." Her older brother insisted. "Remember last time? You had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the movie."

Dawn sulked, but couldn't argue the point. "Fine. Small. But I get to hold the popcorn."

"Just don't eat it all before the rest of us get some. Again." Clark said.

Dawn kicked him in the shin.

* * *

Dawn skipped out of the movie theater, giggling. "What kind of twisted mortal are you?" she quoted. "Vampires are so cool."

Clark and the others followed. "Great." Pete said. "Now your sister's gonna turn into one of those goth kids."

Chloe smirked. "And here I always pictured her getting a Mohawk and being a punk."

"Ew." Dawn said. "What's goth?"

Clark shot Pete a look. "Thanks Pete now I have to try to explain that."

"Just do what my parents do whenever I asked them a problem question." Pete said. "Tell her you'll tell her when she's older."

"Standing right here." The subject of their conversation said huffily.

Lana walked up behind them. "Are they ignoring you again Dawn?" she asked.

Clark immediately spun, losing his balance a bit but steadying himself. Dawn sighed, and Lana suddenly looked uncomfortable. Then Whitney came out of the store they were just in, and Dawn rolled her eyes. She didn't pay any attention to what they said. She'd heard it all before. Clark would pretend he didn't have a crush on her, Whitney would be a jerk because he played football and was a year older than everyone else, and Chloe and Pete would watch.

She didn't want to. Instead, she wandered over in front of the ice-cream shop next door and peered in, trying to decide what flavor she wanted. She was determined to try all of Baskin Robin's 31 flavors.

"Whatcha doin'?" Dawn turned with a gasp. A scruffy older man was standing behind her, unshaven, his tie loose and his hair wild. "What are you doing here? You can't loiter. There's no loitering." He advanced on her, eyes boring into his. She backed away. "That's why I'm a cat. Quiet. See, cat's in the cupboard," He made scratching motions with his hands. "But they find you there anyway, and it hurts." Dawn's back hit the wall, no where else to go. Her eyes widened as he loomed over her and he started to cry. "Please, make it stop." Suddenly he stopped and seized her shoulder. "Shut up, shut up, they'll hear you!"

"Clar-" she tried to call, but he put a finger on her lips, shocking her into silence.

"I know you. Curds and whey. I know what you are. You...don't...belong...here."

Dawn shook her head, on the verge of tears herself. Strangely enough, it was Whitney who came to her rescue. He was a step before Clark, grabbing the man and shoving him away.

"Hey," Whitney growled, "Back off man."

Clark swept Dawn up in his arms, and she clung to him, fighting back tears. She was ten years old! She was too old to cry!

* * *

"Clark," Jonathan said, "How could you leave your sister alone like that? She could have been hurt!"

Sheepishly, Clark looked down. "I only turned my back for a minute, I didn't think she'd wander off."

The man who'd accosted Dawn was being loaded into an ambulance, still babbling, while the sheriff took Whitney's statement.

"I'm fine Mom." Dawn sniffed, as Martha hugged her. "It wasn't Clark's fault, I didn't tell him where I was going."

Jonathan's stern face softened at both Dawn's words, and the devastated look on his son's face. "I know you didn't mean for this to happen son. You've always been very responsible when it comes to Dawn."

"Figures that the one time Clark does turn his back and Dawn wanders off that's when the weirdos come out." Pete commented.

"That's not just any weirdo." Chloe said, her eyes narrowed with suspicion. "That's Mr. Wheeler."

"Who?" almost everyone asked.

"Mr. Wheeler," Chloe repeated, "The High School Janitor. I didn't recognize him at first without the jumpsuit."

Whitney looked more carefully at the man's face before the ambulance closed it's doors. "Hey yeah! How do you know Mr. Wheeler?"

Chloe shrugged. "I'm taking some advanced classes in the High School, I've met him a few times."

"That's weird." The football player said, his expression starting to mirror Chloe's. "I never figured him for a nut job. He seemed pretty together for an old dude."

"Uh oh." Pete muttered to Clark. "She's got that Nancy Drew look on her face."

To Be Continued…


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

When Clark entered Chloe's room, she was staring off into space. Never a good thing. Plus he noticed several new additions to her bulletin board that she called "The Wall of Weird".

"Not another mystery." He groaned.

Chloe just grinned. "Five people Clark. Five people in less than month. Look." She took the articles down from the board and showed them to him. "Mr. Wheeler's just the most recent. See? Here's a truck driver, the dentist, Mrs. Dursley-"

"The librarian?"

"Yup, and the first victim, a security guard for Luthor Corp. None of them have any history of instability. Not themselves, not their families."

Clark nodded. "Okay, I guess I can see how that can be kind of weird. What are you thinking? That it's some kind of virus?"

Chloe shook her head. "No, I've researched online and I can't find any diseases that affect the mind like this. Not this quickly. I just saw Mr. Wheeler two days ago and he was fine. Then yesterday, looney as a toon." She sat thoughtfully. Clark watched, worried. "There doesn't seem to be any common factor." she said. Then she frowned. "Unless…."

"Oh I don't like the sound of that unless." Clark said.

"Clark, care to come with me while I work my reporter magic on the doctors at Smallville General?"

Groaning, Clark agreed. "I know I'm going to regret this. I always do."

* * *

"Hi I'd like to see Jack Wheeler please?" Chloe asked the desk clerk.

"Are you family?" came the response.

"No, I'm Chloe Sullivan, I'm helping out with the Torch, the High School paper. I interviewed him not too long ago and wanted to see how he's doing."

"I'll take care of this." A young doctor said, striding up. "Hi, I'm Dr. Benjamin Weber. I'm taking care of Mr. Wheeler."

"And the other victims?" Chloe asked leadingly.

Ben looked at her sharply, surprised, then relaxed a bit. Right. High School paper. A budding reporter, especially an ambitious one would find out about that. He just hoped, for her sake that she didn't find out any more.

"I'm not at liberty to discuss the other patients." He said. "I'm only telling you about Mr. Wheeler because you know him."

"And?"

Ben glanced at Clark, who was looking embarrassed and distressed. He wondered if Ms. Sullivan did this sort of snooping often, and dragged her friends into it. They made TV shows like that didn't they? "And we don't know what caused Mr. Wheeler's breakdown, but I am confident that there's no need to be alarmed. I'm not a psychologist but I know that there are any number of reasons why someone could have a nervous breakdown."

"But he was fine-"

"He may have seemed fine." Ben interrupted. "People can be very good at hiding things they don't want people to learn. Just because you didn't see any signs of instability, or approaching instability doesn't mean it wasn't there. If you're not looking for something, it could be plain as the glasses on someone's face and you wouldn't see it." He looked down the hallway and his face went a bit pale. Oh god another one. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have patients to tend to."

Ben hurried off to meet the nurse that was leading the lost looking woman down the hall. "Cops found her about a mile from the old factory." She said.

Chloe smiled with sudden inspiration. Clark sighed. He hated that look too.

* * *

"What are you doing?" Clark asked, as Chloe typed madly upon the keyboard of her computer.

"It's best that you not know that." She said mysteriously.

"What? What do you mean-Chloe you're not hacking into the police reports again are you?"

"Of course not." She said absently. "That would be wrong."

With a despairing groan, Clark flopped down onto his back on her bed, one hand covering his eyes. "Either you're going to be a great reporter, or you'll end up in jail before you graduate high school."

"Ha!" Chloe leapt up from her seat, her arms raised in triumph. "That's it! The old factory!"

"What about it?" Pete asked from the door.

Chloe shrieked in surprise and almost tripped over her chair as she spun around, her eyes wide.

"God Pete!" she gasped, grabbing her desk for support. "Stop doing that." She glowered at the smirk on his face. Then she answered his smirk with her own. "C'mon, you're just in time."

Pete's smile died quickly to be replaced with a wary, resigned look. "Just in time for what?"

"For another mystery." Clark sighed, rising.

Pete moaned. "I'm never gonna make it to high school. She's gonna get us all killed one day."

* * *

Half an hour later, they stopped their bikes in front of the big high fence meant to keep anyone from going inside the closed down factory. For a while it succeeded, but there's few things that attract trespassers like a closed down factory.

"I heard this place is haunted." Pete muttered.

"You said that about the house on Mockingbird Lane." Chloe pointed out.

Pete looked reluctant still. "Fence looks pretty sturdy." He said hopefully. "And I don't much like the look of that barbed wire."

Clark glanced at his watch. "Look guys it's almost dinner time. Maybe we should leave it for now."

Chloe looked reluctant.

"Chloe come on." Pete said. "The factory will still be here tomorrow. Clark's right, and I don't feel like getting in trouble just now."

Chloe's stomach rumbled and that made the decision for her. "Oh fine. But with you guys or not, I'm checking this place out tomorrow, first thing."

Clark smiled with relief. They separated when the path to their homes branched off from his. As soon as they were out of sight, he hopped off his bike, hefted in with one hand, and ran the rest of the way home.

Dropping his bike off in the barn, he barely paused a moment before super speeding back to the factory. The hole in the fence was known to only a few. He wasn't one, but it didn't take long to find, and he slipped in silently. Or as silently as he could what with gravel, and broken glass littering the ground.

He found a door with the lock already broken, and his eyes narrowed. Nothing inherently suspicious about that, this place, according to the rumor mill had been a Mecca for parties. He pushed the door gently. Nothing. A glance at the hinges showed it was heavily rusted, so he pushed harder and the door opened easily, if noisily. He winced at the loud screech, and froze. He heard nothing from within, no sound that if anyone was in there that they had heard him.

Entering, he followed the corridor, and soon came upon fresh footprints in the heavy dust. Looked like Chloe was on the right track after all. He felt a bit guilty, sneaking back here without her and Pete. It was her mystery after all, and though he pretended otherwise, Clark knew that Pete quite enjoyed their adventures together. But if there was something in here that was making people crazy, he'd much rather risk himself than them. Besides with his speed he had an advantage no one else did. His strength might come in handy too.

It was with these thoughts in his head that he turned a corner and saw the man tied to the chair. He was dressed in a brown robe, and looked like someone had worked him over pretty good.

"Oh my God." Clark gasped, hurrying to the man's side. He began working on the man's restraints, then saw his eyes widen. He rose quickly and whirled around. A rather good looking blond in a red dress had crept up behind him.

"Aren't you out past your bed time little boy?" she asked sweetly.

"What did you do?" Clark demanded.

She sighed dramatically. "Don't take that tone with me kid. Didn't your mommy and daddy teach you any manners? Like, respect your elders? He stole something from me and I want it back." Suddenly a wicked smile crossed her face. "I know, how would you like to help me get our friend here to tell me where he put my key?"

She reached out and grabbed for Clark's shoulder, but he backed away. "I don't know what you're talking about." He said. "But I'm taking him out of here." He turned back towards the prisoner, and the woman sighed again. One hand clamped down on his shoulder and suddenly he found himself hurtling through the air at great speed, slamming into the concrete wall with enough force to send cracks running all through it's surface.

"Kids today." She said. "They think they're invincible."

Clark didn't know what surprised him more. Her strength, or the fact that his impact with the wall, which should have at least broken something, left him feeling little more than sore. What the hell was she? What the hell was HE?

He rose, a look of shock on his face as she looked at him. "Well Jr.?" she asked. "Feel like being a little more polite now?"

Clark stepped forward, his look of shock changing to one of determination. "We're leaving."

She groaned in exasperation. "Oh fine. Be that way." She grabbed his wrist with one hand, and his throat in the other. He wrenched free, surprising her, and shoved her back. She stumbled back, a surprised grin crossing her face. "Woah boy, you have superpowers! That is so cool!" Quickly she grabbed him again, her hands seizing his upper arms. "Can you fly?"

Twisting, she hurled him across the room again, sending him smashing through a support column. The force of his body hitting the column completely shattered it and he landed on the other side. That time, though again, he knew he should be seriously injured, if not dead, he felt the pain of the impact through his entire body. But it didn't stop him from rising.

"Fly? No. But I can do this." He ran at her at full speed, his body little more than a blur, slamming into her with enough force to send her flying through another support column. He didn't wait to see what became of her. And he could no longer worry that the monk would know about his powers. He sped to the monk's side, freed him from the chair, and ran outside, stopping just outside the fence, ready to bolt at a moment's notice.

Then the factory collapsed in on itself. He supposed the battle had destabilized the building. He was about to go back in to help the woman, when the Monk's voice stopped him.

"Stop, please." The man said in broken English. "The Key. You must protect…many more die if…if you don't keep it safe."

"What key?" Clark asked, casting worried glances to the factory. Sure she was strong, but was she okay? He wasn't a killer, he hadn't meant to hurt her, he just was trying to save the holy man.

"The Key is energy. It's a portal. It opens the door..."

"I don't understand," Clark said crouching by his side. Jesus, this guy was really hurt. "I have to get you to the hospital."

"No, there is no time, you must hear. For centuries it had no form at all. My brethren, its only keepers. Then the abomination found us. We had to hide the Key, gave it form, molded it flesh... made it human and sent it to you.

Clark stared in confusion and shock. "What? Who?"

"Your sister. She is the key."

"Dawn?" he gasped, shocked. "Dawn's the key?"

"We built your memories…must not abandon…" he began coughing.

"Built my memories, you mean she's only been my sister for…I don't understand, please-"

"Two months." Came the soft answer. "Please, she's an innocent in this. She needs you." And with those words, the old man died. Leaving Clark with far too many unanswered questions.

To be continued…


End file.
